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Frontier gets OK to operate Philadelphia-to-Cuba flights

Photo by AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

In this Wednesday, April 20, 2016, photo, smarTours tour director Pamela Boudrot, center, and local tour guide Enedis Tamayo, left, lead a group of tourists in Havana.

(Havana) -- The Obama administration has granted permission for the first U.S. airlines to start the first scheduled flights to Cuba in more than five decades _ and flights from Philadelphia to Cuba could begin in the fall.

The Department of Transportation said Friday that six airlines have been selected for routes to nine Cuban cities other than Havana. They are American, Frontier, JetBlue, Silver Airways, Southwest and Sun Country.

Frontier will operate flights from Philadelphia to Varadero, a city the airline says ``provides access to Cuba's beaches and rich cultural attractions.''

Arrangements must still be worked out with the Cuban government, but the carriers say they plan to start selling tickets in the next few weeks while they wait for signoffs from Cuba.

Currently, all flights operating between the two countries are charters.

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